The Dwarven army of Wind Rose gave a powerful show to mark the start of their first U.S. headlining tour in San Diego.
It was 20 minutes before doors opened, and fans dressed in Viking gear and fake beards were already wrapped around the building. Some of them carried inflatable pick axes. All of them brought an aura of almost childlike excitement. No, this wasn’t ComicCon. It was the long-awaited U.S. debut of Wind Rose, the Italian band that has built a cult following with their unique brand of Dwarven-inspired power and folk metal.
The band formed in Tuscany in 2009. Since then, they’ve slowly built a name for themselves in the European metal scene with Tolkien-inspired songs about smelting metal, epic battles, and digging deep into the mountains.
True to their brand, Wind Rose emerged on stage decked in clothing straight out of a Renaissance Fair. Lead singer Francesco Cavalieri – for those new to Wind Rose, he is the only relatively short person in the band but none actually have dwarfism – had long brown hair and beard and wore a long fur cape with shoulder armor embossed with Dwarf heads. The others wore fur-lined leather vests and bracers.
The show was high-octane right out of the gate, with “Army of Stone” from their 2022 album Warfront. The song tells a tale about legendary Dwarves within a mountain. The high fantasy imagery, classic power metal heavy riffs, and melodic keyboard courtesy of Federico Meranda made for the perfect way to set the stage for the rest of the show.
As the roar from the crowd subsided from the first song, Cavalieri asked his fans, “Are you ready to fight for your king?” That was the cue for the band to launch into “Fellows of the Hammer,” also from the Warfront album. Cristiano Bertocchi provided a thunderous bass line while Claudio Falconcini, whose long hair would occasionally get caught in the rafters above while headbanging throughout the show, gave an electrifying solo to close the song.
Next, Wind Rose offered up two of their most popular tracks, “Drunken Dwarves” and “Mine! Mine! Mine!” from their 2019 album Winter Saga. Both songs had the crowd chanting along with their toy pick axes raised in the air.
From there, Wind Rose moved between Winter Saga and Warfront, with Cavalieri pumping his fists in the air and inviting fans to chant along throughout.
Finally, it came time for their biggest hit, “Diggy Diggy Hole.” The song features on Winter Saga and has amassed more than 54 million plays on Spotify. What some might not realize is that it’s actually a cover of a 2011 Minecraft meme song from the Yogscast YouTube channel. Whether despite or because of its overly silly nature, every single person in San Diego’s Brick by Brick music venue couldn’t help but enthusiastically sing along.
After a brief intermission, Cavalieri closed out the night with “I am the Mountain,” which he said he wrote after his struggles with depression. The song made for a great contrast to the hole-digging silliness from a few minutes earlier, and it ends with an uplifting message stating “I can see the light afar. It’s burning within the night. There’s still fire in the mountain. There’s still fire inside me.”
Catch Wind Rose on their North American Warfront Tour at more than 20 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada through early May. Many shows are already sold out or have dwindling tickets, so get in on the action while you still can.
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